Thinking of ditching BlackBerry? Here's what you'll gain - and what you'll lose

Summary: Given the choice, it would seem many BlackBerry users are keen to move to a different platform. If you're wondering whether to switch from BB10 to a rival platform, here are some issues for you to think about before you make your final decision.

A recent campaign from T-Mobile in the US encouraging BlackBerry users to trade-in their devices for rivals' handsets raised Chen's ire. Initially, T-Mobile only offered users the chance swap to non-BlackBerry devices, but offered to make it up to fans with a new shipping deal for BlackBerry handsets after Chen blasted the carrier for its "inappropriate and ill-conceived marketing promotion".

Sadly for BlackBerry, though, most people went to its competitors: an internal T-Mobile document revealed 94 percent of subscribers that took up the offer switched to a non-BlackBerry device.

Most were probably ditching their older BlackBerry 7-powered devices but soon enough owners of the current BB10 line will have to make the decision whether to upgrade — if BlackBerry is still around by then — or move on.

So if you're considering your next mobile move, what are the pros and cons of switching you should consider?

(Image: BlackBerry)

BlackBerry 10 Hub and Flow

When BlackBerry introduced BB10, it launched the platform on two handsets — the classic QWERTY keyboard Q10, and the all-touch Z10.

The decision to not include a home button on the Z10 was a departure from iOS and many Android devices, and gave BlackBerry a chance to rethink how swipes and gestures could replace typical home button controls.

Two features of that decision were BlackBerry Hub and Flow.

BlackBerry Hub provides a centralised access point for all BB10 messages, whether they're emails, calls, SMS, BBM or other messages on Twitter, Facebook and so on. Hub can be brought up by swiping a finger from the left of the screen.

iOS and Android of course have their own native notifications centre, but there are a few differences. For one, their notification centres are not quite the central feature that Hub is in BB10 (more on that later).

BlackBerry Flow isn't really an identifiable feature in the same was that Hub is, but rather a term BlackBerry uses for how, using slides and swipes, BlackBerry owners can navigate between apps without relying on either Apple's double-click based home button or Android's multi-task soft button.

In BB10, Flow operates within the context of apps running side by side, which can be accessed by swiping left and right to flick between apps. It's meant to make it easier to jump out of a half-finished email to find contacts and then pop back in to complete it.

The two BB10 features are about saving time and re-thinking control without a home button. If you're a fan of either, don't expect to find exactly the same features on either of the two most popular smartphone platforms.

(Image: BlackBerry)

Does BlackBerry's messaging outshine iOS and Android notifications?

For BB10 users thinking about moving to an iPhone, there's Apple's iOS 7 Notifications Centre. It bears some resemblance to Hub, but wasn't created with equal features.

One of the key differences from a BB10 perspective is that tapping on a notification in iOS redirects the user to a specific messaging app. BlackBerry users can respond to messages without needing to move outside of the Hub and can also view and edit their calendar entries. It's a minor difference, but an important one for BB10 users due to the immediacy and efficiency it allows when responding to messages.

Interestingly, Apple did support posting on Twitter and Facebook directly from the Notification Centre in iOS 6, but Apple removed the feature in iOS 7.

iOS 7 also introduced new settings to control which apps appear in Today View and lock-screen notifications. Swiping notifications from the lock screen will launch the app to that message after unlocking.

BlackBerry introduced similar per app notification controls in Hub in the 10.2 update for BB10 as well as lock-screen notifications (pictured below) via icons on the lock screen, which, when tapped, presented a summary of messages. But it's not possible to respond to anything directly from the lockscreen.

Lock screen notifications in 10.2. Image: BlackBerry

In pre-iOS 7 versions of iOS, multitasking was pretty limited. A double tap on the home button would bring up a tray of icons for open apps at the bottom of the screen. BlackBerry Flow's multitasking improved on iOS at the time, but Apple went some way to address that in iOS 7, in which the double tap on the home button produces thumbnail snapshots of each app's most recent state. But it's still not BB10 multitasking and doesn't allow the user to weave between apps in the way BB10 does.

It's a similar story for Android. Notifications conveniently roll down with a downward swipe over messaging icons on the top of the screen but, like iOS, tapping on a message takes the user back to an app.

Android is often seen as the polar opposite to iOS, but compared with BB10, it's actually quite similar, given how central the home button in accessing and interacting with apps. Of course, instead of Apple's double-tap on home to do multi-tasking, Android has the dedicated multi-task button and the back button.

Fortunately, by the time many current BB10 device owners are ready to change, there will be another choice...

(Image: Apple.)

What about Ubuntu Touch OS?

Ubuntu OS has been designed without a home button, which means it relies purely on swipes and taps on the four edges of the screen to navigate the OS.

Ubuntu OS developers appear to have been able to use the lack of a home button to their advantage in rethinking the Ubuntu UI.

Just like iOS, Android and BB10, Ubuntu has a notification hub, which can be accessed with a downward swipe from the top of the screen. What separates it from the two kingpins is that, just like BB10, you can reply from the notifications to messages from Facebook and Twitter, and make calls from the notifications bar.

A neat feature of Ubuntu is the down swipe to access key settings toggles. Instead of Android's way of bringing all key setting toggles up, in Ubuntu it's possible to swipe down on just wi-fi or any other setting. Once there the user can left and right to bring up toggles for other settings.

Likewise, instead of going back to a settings menu to reconfigure an app, in Ubuntu that's done from the app that's in use, via an upwards swipe from the base of the screen.

It's unclear whether these feature alone would win over a Z10 loyalist, but at least it's been designed with similar regard for efficiency and usability in the absence of a home button.

Ubuntu's community manager Jono Bacon gives a demo of the features below.

(Image: Canonical)

Windows Phone 8.1 customisable notifications?

Windows Phone 8 could be a contender too. Microsoft "ran out of time" when it was building Windows Phone 8 and, to its regret, didn't include a notifications centre. That should change when Windows Phone 8.1 arrives, thought to be within weeks.

Microsoft's take on notifications is called Action Centre and contains basically the same shortcuts to settings toggles for wi-fi, Bluetooth and internet sharing as iOS, Android and BlackBerry.

It's also the central location for Facebook, Twitter and SMS messages. Like others, it can be accessed with a downward swipe. It should be a welcome feature for Windows Phone users who until now have had to install third-party apps to get shortcuts to key settings.

As this video of Action Centre shows, Microsoft looks to be making it highly customisable. Exactly how it can be customised though remains a mystery and it will be interesting — given all this time it's had to build the feature — whether it enable responding to messages from the centre. Other leaked images can be found here.

Other enterprise features thought to be arriving with the Windows Phone update include VPN support and a Siri-like personal assistant, codenamed Cortana.

(Image: Microsoft)

BlackBerry Messenger

Until recently, would-be BlackBerry ditchers would have had to wave goodbye to BBM. However, in recent months, the popular messaging app has been making its way onto rival platforms — including iOS, Android, and Nokia's X range.

However, the business version of BBM is a Blackberry exclusive. The company recently announced the eBBM suite for the enterprise, which includes BlackBerry Protected, a messaging app for the millions who work in a regulated industry that need end-to-end encryption. The downside is that it will be available only on BlackBerry devices and BES environments.

BBM rose to popularity thanks to PIN-to-PIN messaging, in contrast to the clutch of messaging startups that rely on phone numbers to connect up users. However, other apps have since learned the BBM privacy lesson and offer the same feature.

And, if you're after private messaging, anyone moving away from BlackBerry to Android or iOS will find a range of encrypted, social messaging apps that match — and possibly beat — BBM on functionality.

(Image: BlackBerry)

TigerText, Telegram, and Text Secure

Tiger Text has established itself as a secure messaging provider in the US healthcare sector with the promise of HIPAA compliance. It's also going after BlackBerry's enterprise domain with the promise of end-to-end encrypted messaging, secure texting, and time-based self-destructing messages.

Some privacy-focused encrypted messaging apps are quickly catching up on BBM features. Open WhisperSystems recently updated TextSecure for Android, with users now able to create private chat groups with the same end to end encryption previously offered with TextSecure SMS chats. Much like Apple's iMessage, TextSecure is a normal SMS/MMS app when communicating with non-TextSecure users, but sends messages encrypted over a data network when both are TextSecure users. It's currently available for Android with an iOS app in the works.

Or there's Telegram for iOS and Android, which sits somewhere between TextSecure and SnapChat. It's got the usual self-destruct option for messages, and unlike the path BBM is headed with sponsored content in BBM Channels, Telegram has promised no ads and no subscription fees.

Chats are divided into two categories: 'normal' and 'secret'. Normal chats are stored encrypted on Telegram's servers while secret chats use end-to-end encryption and are not stored on Telegram’s servers — they can only be accessed from the devices they were sent to or from.

Telegram was bankrolled by VKontact founders and brothers Pavel and Nikolao Duroy. However, it's a Berlin headquartered company with no connections to Russia, according to the company.

Telegram for iPhone was launched last year, and an alpha version of Telegram for Android arrived a few months later. There are also unofficial apps for Windows Phone, Mac and Linux.

WhatsApp and a dozen others

Incidentally, Google pushed out an iOS update to Hangouts that added stickers, video and location sharing to bring them in line with newcomers.

Not to be outdone, BlackBerry recently released BBM 2.0, which added voice, emoticons and location sharing for iOS and Android apps.

(Image: WhatsApp)

BlackBerry Z10 keyboard

There are claims that the SwiftKey engine powers the BlackBerry 10 keyboard. While Swiftkey has a hugely popular product, it's not quite the same — as many BlackBerry loyalists have pointed out. For one, the BlackBerry keyboard doesn't include the nifty swipe typing combined with predictive text, but it does let users flick predicted words up to the text window. Like SwiftKey, the BB10 keyboard promises to adapt to the user's typing style.

Whether the two are really one and the same though is besides the point; if a BB10 user is considering a switch, a third-party keyboard app like SwiftKey will most likely do a better job than the stock offering on iOS and Android devices.

SwiftKey for Android has been available for a while as a paid for app for around $4, and in January it launched as SwiftKey Note for the iPad and iPhone. It's free on iOS, but doesn't actually replace the built-in keyboard from Apple. Instead, it's integrated with the Evernote note-taking app.

But SwiftKey isn't the only option for BlackBerry switchers looking for a better keyboard on Android: there's also Swype, Kii and Go.

(Image: BlackBerry)

The BlackBerry keyboard

If life without a BlackBerry keyboard is just too much to bear, then there is always Typo's $99 backlit keyboard case for the iPhone 5 and 5s. The catch with Typo is that it takes from the iPhone about as much as it gives.

ZDNet's review of the Typo found it to be an improvement on the iPhone's built-in soft keyboard, but its main drawback was that it covers the device's home button. That's less of a problem on the iPhone 5 due to Typo's home button replacement on the lower right corner of the keyboard.

However, the workaround doesn't solve the issue of the keyboard covering Apple's Touch ID fingerprint sensor in the iPhone 5. And no joy for iPhone 5c users: Typo isn't available for the lower-end handset.

(Image: Larry Seltzer/ZDNet)

BlackBerry Documents to Go

BlackBerry made its name as the busy executive's device of choice, with productivity software to match.

BB10 devices come with Documents to Go Premium for mobile viewing and editing of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. BlackBerry developed its own version of Documents to Go from third-party app maker DataViz, which is also available for Android and iOS.

The good news for anyone moving from BlackBerry to either Android or iOS is that they can take their pick from a number of mobile editing and viewing apps, such as Google's free Quickoffice.

But BlackBerry switchers may wish to stick with Documents to Go if they move to iOS and Android. One advantage it has over Quick Office is its support for syncing files across multiple cloud storage platforms, including Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, and Google Drive.

When Google announced last year it was making Quickoffice a free app on Android and iOS it also decided to wind down Quickoffice Pro and Pro HD. As of March 31, all cloud storage services became unavailable on the two apps, including Google Drive. Users remaining on the free app need to set up a Drive account.

Documents to Go is free on Android but users can pay to add extra functionality. For iOS the basic version costs $9.99. The premium version, which adds PowerPoint editing, costs $16.99.

Or there's Microsoft's Office Mobile, which is available to Office 365 subscribers for free on up to five iPhones, Android devices or its own Windows Phone. Of course though, working on and editing documents is probably going to be better done from a tablet than a small screen phone and Microsoft's newly announced Office for iPad is primed to be the gold standard for this on tablets.

The suite of apps includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint and is free for the iPad but to add editing capabilities users need to take up an Office 365 subscription.

(Image: Documents to Go)

BlackBerry Balance vs Knox

Despite being surplanted in the enterprise, the company still has a few business-pleasing tricks up its sleeve, including BlackBerry Balance — a BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) 10 feature available on BB10 devices.

BlackBerry Balance is intended to help companies deal with issues around BYOD, such as securing personal apps on work devices. Balance lets the user toggle between separate containers for work and personal apps and content, while admins can set policies for how BB10 devices distinguish between work and play content and sends users alerts if they're at risk of breaching company policy.

BlackBerry just last week secured 'full operational capability' accreditation from the US Defense Information Systems Agency to operate on US Department of Defense networks. As it noted at the time that it was the first mobile vendor to move beyond 'authority to operate' certification, where devices from Apple and Samsung currently sit. The tick of approval means that DoD staff can now use Balance for access the department's network resources.

For iOS and Android devices, BlackBerry has Secure Work Spaces, which offers similar functionality on those platforms to Balance. Similar products on the two platforms include VMware's new buy Airwatch, Good Technology, Citrix's XenMobile and a long list of other MDM offerings from the likes of SAP, IBM, Symantec, McAfee, MobileIron, and others.

But the one product squaring up directly to BlackBerry Balance is Knox from Samsung, which basically promises the same thing as Balance and is the sharp end of the Korean company's thrust for the enterprise. Knox ships with the Galaxy S4 and S5 as well as its Note and Tab products, but Knox alone isn't enough to get it to places like the DoD — a challenge Samsung has tackled through its partnership with MDM vendor Fixmo.

Samsung updated Knox to version 2.0 this February including a new encryption key management system new protections against unauthorised edits to system partitions. Knox also gained the support of Good Technology.

A recent campaign from T-Mobile in the US encouraging BlackBerry users to trade-in their devices for rivals' handsets raised Chen's ire. Initially, T-Mobile only offered users the chance swap to non-BlackBerry devices, but offered to make it up to fans with a new shipping deal for BlackBerry handsets after Chen blasted the carrier for its "inappropriate and ill-conceived marketing promotion".

Sadly for BlackBerry, though, most people went to its competitors: an internal T-Mobile document revealed 94 percent of subscribers that took up the offer switched to a non-BlackBerry device.

Most were probably ditching their older BlackBerry 7-powered devices but soon enough owners of the current BB10 line will have to make the decision whether to upgrade — if BlackBerry is still around by then — or move on.

So if you're considering your next mobile move, what are the pros and cons of switching you should consider?

Liam Tung is an Australian business technology journalist living a few too many Swedish miles north of Stockholm for his liking. He gained a bachelors degree in economics and arts (cultural studies) at Sydney's Macquarie University, but hacked (without Norse or malicious code for that matter) his way into a career as an enterprise tech, s...
Full Bio